The present invention is directed to a vehicle seat that pivots to allow easy ingress and egress and in particular to a vehicle seat that manually pivots in conjunction with linear motion to have a combined linear and rotational movement to allow easy ingress and egress to seating located behind the combined movement seat, including even while a child seat remains secured to the combined movement seat.
Manufacturers have long strived to add seating capacity to vehicles, however accessing vehicle seats that do not have their own door such as third row seating in SUVs, crossovers and mini vans or second row seating in two-door vehicles has always been problematic. As manufacturers decreased the size of vehicles or added additional seating to vehicles, problems of egress and ingress have become particularly acute. In addition, most adults currently find accessing vehicle seats which do not have their own dedicated door opening to be problematic and require exceptional flexibility and balance at times.
For some vehicles, such as those having higher entry points, including SUVs and some crossovers, as well as vehicles with smaller doors, or limited entering access space, some difficulty may be encountered with individuals with disabilities or elderly individuals with limited range of motion to enter and sit upon a particular seat even if it includes its own dedicated vehicle door and then pivoting the feet and legs into the vehicle. Given the limited range of motion of some adults, the normal methods of entry may be time consuming or constrained. Furthermore, as vehicles become more compact, some door openings, in particular for the rear doors of the vehicle at times have been minimized in size creating additional difficulties for adults, especially for those with limited range of motion to enter a vehicle.
While some manufacturers have attempted to improve access to vehicle seats positioned behind other vehicle seats and without their own access doors by allowing easy sliding forward of the seat or pivoting or flipping up of the seat, many times the rearward outer edge of the seat is still in the way of easy placement of the feet when entering the vehicle. These methods of entry also generally are precluded from being used when an occupant is already occupying a particular vehicle seat. Therefore, for a passenger to exit, for example a third row of seats without their own door, typically the second row passengers on at least one side must exit the vehicle then rearrange the vehicle seat to allow the third row vehicle passengers to exit. At times and in certain conditions such as in inclement weather, this full exiting of the vehicle and rearranging of the seat is time consuming and undesirable. Another challenge that may occur is when a child seat is placed in the seat making tipping of the seat infeasible and the exiting or entering of the vehicle a challenge.
Some owners of vehicles require child seats or booster seats secured to vehicle seats as required for the transportation of children. For vehicles having third row seats, it is very difficult to secure a child within one of these seats. Therefore, most owners secure the child seat or booster to the second row of seats, however, almost any time the third row of seats are used, the child or booster seat must be removed to allow the seat to fold and slide forward. Removal and resecuring the child or booster seat to the vehicle seat is difficult, and compounded if the owner has a child in their arms. Furthermore, once the person is in the third row, the process must be repeated to allow that person to egress.